Recap: Equip 2024 Community Preparedness Summit

There are 45 days to go until November 5, and the United States has already faced a barrage of serious threats to our elections – and things are likely to only intensify in the coming weeks. This year, Americans have witnessed two assassination attempts against former President Trump, surging threats and harassment against nonpartisan election officials, the rampant spread of disinformation scapegoating immigrants and minorities, efforts to disenfranchise voters and sow doubt in our electoral process, and a host of other anti-democratic activity. These trends only exacerbate the political divisions in our nation, threatening to make attacks against free and fair elections more frequent and dangerous between now and Election Day, the Inauguration, and and potentially even beyond.

In the face of these serious and growing threats, civil society – America’s unique ecosystem of voluntary associations, nonprofits, and philanthropies – has a critical role to play in protecting and upholding democracy. Civil society has the ability and responsibility to mobilize communities to ensure our elections remain free, fair, safe, and accessible. Doing so requires serious and sustained preparation so that organizations and individuals are equipped to effectively prevent and respond to a wide array of election-related threats.

The American Jewish community is rising to that challenge.

What is the Equip 2024: Community Preparedness Summit?

On September 17, 2024, A More Perfect Union: The Jewish Partnership for Democracy brought together leaders from 75 Jewish organizations across the United States for the Equip 2024: Community Preparedness Summit. This first-of-its-kind summit aimed to furnish Jewish organizations with the knowledge, values, skills, and strategies needed to support their communities through any election-related challenges.

Who planned and participated in Equip 2024?

The program was co-planned by leading experts in the democracy and Jewish nonprofit fields, including American University's Polarization & Extremism Research & Innovation Lab (PERIL), Princeton University's Bridging Divides Initiative (BDI), Project Over Zero, More in Common US, Protect Democracy, and the Secure Community Network. It also brought together a diverse array of Jewish organizations as promotional partners, including the Anti-Defamation League, Council of American Jewish Museums, Civic Spirit, Jewish Council of Public Affairs (JCPA), Network of Jewish Human Service Agencies, Prizmah, the Rabbinic Assembly, Torat Chayim, and Uri L’Tzedek.

What was discussed at the Equip 2024?

The program opened with a keynote address from Dr. Rachel Kleinfeld, Senior Fellow in the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Dr. Kleinfeld taught attendees about the most prominent and serious threats to democracy this election season, and outlined the roles and responsibilities of Jewish leaders to counter them.

Following the keynote, Justin Florence, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Protect Democracy, presented a new initiative – the Democracy Principles, an effort to unite organizations around a shared set of nonpartisan democratic values, and for signatories to commit to proactively and reactively stand up for those values.

“**The challenges to free and fair elections in 2024 are significant, but** **we will be prepared to meet them**,” said Justin Florence. “It’s inspiring to see faith-based leaders across the country taking proactive steps to safeguard our democratic system, ensuring that it remains strong and accessible for all.”

Next, a panel of leading experts in the field provided insights into why partnerships are essential to the work of protecting and strengthening democracy, and how Jewish organizations can develop meaningful and effective relationships. The panel included Amy Spitalnick, CEO of JCPA, Calista Small, Research Manager of More in Common US, and Laura Livingston, Director of Field Support for Project Over Zero.

“In a time of increasing polarization and direct threats to democratic norms and institutions, we must recognize that **Jewish safety is inextricably linked with our democracy** — and mobilize to protect the democratic system that has allowed our community to thrive in this country,” said Amy Spitalnick. “This summit underscores **the strength of our community's collective action and our commitment to stand up for democracy when it matters most**.”

The summit then shared practical skills to keep Jewish communities safe, calm, informed, and engaged during a tumultuous election season. Attendees heard from leading organizations on a variety of critical topics, including physical security (led by Secure Community Network), cybersecurity (led by the NGO Information Sharing and Analysis Center), countering radicalization (led by American University’s PERIL), conflict de-escalation (led by Princeton University’s BDI), and crisis communications (led by the CLYDE Group).

Throughout the day, participants engaged with one another in small breakout groups to discuss the Democracy Principles, brainstorm network-building strategies, and develop actionable plans based on realistic threat scenarios. Participants also received a robust toolkit with in-depth information and resources to help them put the topics explored at the summit into practice in their home institutions.

How do we get involved?

The summit concluded with five clear action items for every organization in attendance:

Signing the Democracy Principles
Launching a team to lead preparedness efforts
Building and engaging key relationships
Enacting best practices for physical security, cybersecurity, countering radicalization, conflict de-escalation, and crisis communications
Practicing scenarios with their teams